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'COVID-related': Edwardsville provider of sports equipment for schools files bankruptcy

Sportswide filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy this month
Credit: SLBJ
Sportswide's largest secured creditor is CNB Bank & Trust, formerly Carlinville National Bank, with a claim of $9.6 million.

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. — An Edwardsville, Illinois, provider of sports equipment for schools filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy this month.

First to the Finish Kim and Mike Viano Sports Inc., doing business as Sportswide, made the filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Illinois, listing assets of $9.6 million and liabilities of $12.3 million. Mike Viano is the company's president.

It has no retail location, but a warehouse in Carlinville. The firm employs seven salaried workers, plus another 11 who are paid by the hour, its attorney, Rob Eggmann, said.

Eggmann said "this is almost 100% COVID-related."

Sportswide, he said, had 2019 revenue of $12.5 million. Heading into March this year, it had 2020 revenue of about $4.5 million, which fell significantly once high school athletic programs shut down, and then schools completely closed.

Schools stopped buying athletic equipment, Eggmann said, and even though some athletic programs have started back up, sales "are starting to gradually rise, but aren't there yet."

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